// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did Palystes lunatus say? "I'm crabby tonight

Murraysburg rain spider
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Sparassidae
Genus:	Palystes
Species:	P. lunatus
Binomial name
	Palystes lunatus; Pocock, 1896

Palystes lunatus is a spider species in the family Sparassidae.^[2] It is endemic to South Africa and is commonly known as the Murraysburg rain spider.^[3]

Distribution

Palystes lunatus was originally described with the type specimen only labelled as South Africa. According to Croeser, the species may be restricted to a relatively small locality, probably somewhere in the montane interior of the Eastern Cape Province.^[3]

Habitat and ecology

Nothing is known about the habitat or ecology of this species.^[3]

Description

Conservation

Palystes lunatus is listed as Data Deficient by the South African National Biodiversity Institute. The species is known only from a single unspecified site in South Africa. The status of the species remains obscure. Some more sampling is needed to collect the male and to determine the species' range.^[3]

Taxonomy

Palystes lunatus was originally described by Pocock in 1896. The species was revised by Croeser in 1996, and is known from only the female.^[3]

References

↑ Pocock, R.I. (1896). "Descriptions of some new South African spiders of the family Heteropodidae". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 6. 17 (97): 55–64. doi:10.1080/00222939608680323.
↑ "Palystes lunatus Pocock, 1896". World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2025-10-01.
1 2 3 4 5 Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S.; Haddad, C.R.; Foord, S.H.; Lotz, L.N. (2022). The Sparassidae of South Africa. Version 2. South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide. p. 44. doi:10.5281/zenodo.6614498. This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.

[pocock1896-1] Pocock, R.I. (1896). "Descriptions of some new South African spiders of the family Heteropodidae". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 6. 17 (97): 55–64. doi:10.1080/00222939608680323.

[wsc-2] "Palystes lunatus Pocock, 1896". World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2025-10-01.

[dippenaar2022-3] 1 2 3 4 5 Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S.; Haddad, C.R.; Foord, S.H.; Lotz, L.N. (2022). The Sparassidae of South Africa. Version 2. South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide. p. 44. doi:10.5281/zenodo.6614498. This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.

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